Chapter 3 - Zenkasi – Madam Eva, Ave Madam

Summary

If You’re Human Like the Rest of Them commented on the ageing body and the anxiety in the face of the ultimate decay, Zenkasi's Madam Eva, Ave Madam tackles the problems of the disabled body, one frequently touched by suffering many years before the signs of ageing become noticeable. Hence, here the theatre medium is also employed to comment on physicality and associated difficulties, but it will be the obstacles found, already present, rather than those foreshadowed or expected in an unspecified future. Still, the exploration of disability will not be devoid of discoveries. Thanks to the biblical allusions, Zenkasi's performance invites a reconsideration of what it means to be human and to live among other members of society, each of whom has their own body, with its individual characteristics and struggles. Additionally, it illustrates how disabilities can prompt innovative solutions in art.

Madam Eva, Ave Madam was conceived in 1992 by Zenkasi − the theatre founded by Zenon Fajfer and Katarzyna Bazarnik in the same year. The inspiration came when Fajfer worked as an orderly in a home for people with disabilities, the Brother Albert Home, on what was then Zielna Street in Krakow. As a conscientious objector, this work was in lieu of doing the then compulsory military service (Myers 1993: 1). In 1991 Fajfer got the position of a social officer in the same home and, noticing that young residents showed talent but had no chance to explore their skills or bring a new quality to their monotonous lives, he decided to make theatre with them (Myers 1993: 1). Already experienced in the medium, having worked on two performances combining the adaptation of Kafka's Trial with T.S. Eliot's “The Hollow Men” and references to Witold Gombrowicz in high school, he was this time prompted to collaborate with people with disabilities. He did not exclude potential therapeutic effects, but he would distance himself from the practice of art therapy and aim at a professional, avant-garde work (Myers 1993: 1).